Dean Asks Rory for Coffee

DEAN: Hey, you wanna get a cup of coffee? … Maybe talk a little? Of course, if you prefer, we can both just head over to Weston’s and randomly bump into each other.

RORY: No, uh, that’s okay. I can get coffee.

While Rory is browsing in the window of Stars Hollow Books, she runs into Dean. Apparently, they have been “randomly” bumping into each other for some time now. And if you believe that, then I’ve got a mighty nice bridge for sale!

The upshot of all this creepy stalking (I mean innocent random encounters) is that Dean asks Rory to have coffee with him at Weston’s Bakery – Luke’s Diner being out of the question for obvious reasons.

Rory and Jess Kiss in Public

[Jess and Rory are walking through the town square, kissing]

It’s about two months since Rory broke up with Dean, and by now she is comfortable enough to be seen kissing her boyfriend Jess in public. It feels as if the relationship between Rory and Jess is nothing but kissing, actually. Do they do anything else?

When they were friends, they read books and talked about books and went book shopping – whatever happened to that? Is it happening offscreen, or are we meant to think that now they’re in a relationship, Rory and Jess don’t bother any more?

Dean Brings Back Rory’s Stuff

LORELAI: Not weirded out, even a little?

RORY: Why would I be weirded out?

LORELAI: Well, Dean coming over, bringing your stuff back.

RORY: No, I’m fine.

LORELAI: Okay. Although, you know, if you were weirded out a little, it would be okay. It wouldn’t mean that you don’t like Jess, or that you made a mistake. It would just mean the guy who was in your life for two years isn’t there anymore.

Dean drops off his “Rory box” of mementos, in order to return them to Rory. Although Rory brushes off Lorelai’s concerns that she might feel “weird” about it, when she takes the box to her room, she seems unable to open it and deal with the contents. She sits on the bed and eyes it with an unhappy, regretful (remorseful?), expression.

Note how Lorelai doesn’t miss a chance to mention not liking Jess, or making a mistake, even while trying to comfort Rory. We never see Rory return her “Dean box” to Dean – but then again, Lorelai told her that such memory boxes were to be kept as a lifetime reminder of a previous relationship.

The Bathtub Scene from Annie Hall

LORELAI: I have a spider whose previous credits include the bathtub scene from Annie Hall trapped under that cup.

The film Annie Hall, previously discussed and frequently mentioned.

In the movie, there is a scene where Annie calls Alvy to come over to her apartment at 3 am even though they have broken up – which turns out to be because there is a spider in her bath. It turns out to be two very large spiders. After Alvy deals with the spiders, he and Annie get back together.

It’s interesting that Lorelai references this scene to Dean, who has broken up with Rory and now unexpectedly turned up at her house. It seems like she thinks of it because she wants Rory and Dean to also get back together, as if Dean killing the spider will somehow bring Rory back to him, as Alvy gets Annie back.

Jamie Loves Paris

RORY: Okay, skip to the end, I can’t take it. How did it turn out?

PARIS: He told me he loved me … I never thought I’d hear a boy tell me he loved me … He invited me back up for Easter break.

After spending Christmas together, Jamie tells Paris that he loves her, and invites her to spend Easter in Philadelphia with his family. Paris is thrilled and disbelieving, but she never says that she loves Jamie, or indicates that she reciprocated with her own love confession. It may be that Paris is more in love with love, and the idea of having a nice boyfriend, than she is with Jamie himself, or that she simply doesn’t trust her own feelings.

Class

TEACHER: To evaluate the value of a function of X when X equals Pi. You want to start by splitting the intregal into two separate intregals. Now, since the left intregal is a variable of a constant exponent, remember C is a constant, add one and divide by the new power … The right intregal, however, is more complex. You have to use U substitution with U equals 3 feet.

During the credits, Rory and Paris are shown in their AP Calculus class, which covers both Algebra and Geometry.

At the end of last season, Paris insisted on taking AP Calculus with Mr Branch, who is a MIT graduate, so I presume that the teacher in this episode is Branch.

Taffy

RORY: No, or the taffy binge of ’97.

Taffy is a type of candy from the US, made by stretching or/and pulling a sticky mass of soft candy base, made of boiled sugar, butter, vegetable oil, flavorings, and colorings, until tiny bubbles form, resulting in a light, fluffy and chewy candy. The word dates to 1817, and the origin is not known. In the UK, this kind of candy is known as “chewy sweets”.

Lorelai and Rory may have binged on taffy they bought at a candy store, possibly on one of their road trips, as it is a specialty of New England. It isn’t difficult to make at home, and if they ate home made taffy, I’d think Sookie would have made it for them. This sickly binge occurred in 1997, when Rory was 12-13.

Six Flags

LUKE: So, how did the four dinners work out? You guys must feel more stuffed than you’ve ever been.

LORELAI: I don’t know. Is this more stuffed than the great Six Flags hot dog consumption of ’99?

Six Flags is an amusement park corporation founded in the 1960s in Arlington, Texas, and headquartered in Manhattan. It has 27 theme parks in the US, Canada, and Mexico, more than any other amusement park company, and has more than 30 million guests each year. The name Six Flags refers to the flags of the six nations which have governed Texas over the years – Spain, France, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the USA, and the Confederate States of America.

The nearest Six Flags to Lorelai and Rory is Six Flags New England, in Agawam, Massachusetts. It is just north of the Connecticut border, about an hour’s drive away. They went to the theme park in 1999, possibly during the summer vacation, when Rory was nearly 15.

“This is my town”

DEAN: This is my town, I’m not hiding. And I don’t have be remotely calm around you anymore, and I like that feeling. I like it a lot. Happy Thanksgiving, Jess.

Dean arrived in Stars Hollow only a year before Jess did, and Jess has family connections in the town, yet Dean now takes possession of the town – it’s his town, and Jess is the interloper. He warns Jess in no uncertain terms that he is not going to gracefully step aside and give Rory and Jess the space they need to form a good relationship.

I don’t think Jess did have a good Thanksgiving, really. He only saw his girlfriend for a short time, and she was too shy to give him more than a peck. When she came back, it was just to kiss him and say, “Later”. Both his girlfriend’s mother and his girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend have let him know he’s been watched by them. And he gets stuck with garbage duty.

Dean’s Thanksgiving wasn’t great either. He has no girlfriend, he had to work on Thanksgiving, and may have taken the shift to avoid his family, because he either hasn’t told them about Rory yet, or doesn’t want their pity.

Rory and Lorelai have a pretty rotten Thanksgiving as well, and Sookie’s is a nightmare. Only Lane and Dave have a happy Thanksgiving in this episode, and it’s about time Lane gets a happy story line!

Belgium

SOOKIE: Mm, about a half-hour ago they set the lawn on fire … But Phil says it’s okay and everything ’cause it’ll grow back twice as lush. Though that’s what he said when he broke my salad bowl that I brought back from Belgium. That’ll maybe grow back, too, huh?

Sookie travelled to Belgium at some point, bringing back a salad bowl with her as a souvenir. Possibly she went there to study some particular culinary art – Belgium is famous for its chocolate-making, for example. It’s just as likely it was a foodie’s tour, allowing her to sample the local produce. It may also have been as part of a trip to Europe. It’s just possible that Sookie and Jackson went to Europe for their honeymoon, although Sookie doesn’t say that we brought the salad bowl back from Belgium. Mind you, she’s pretty drunk by now.